Named for Tanukis, the raccoon dogs that have long held an important place in Japanese culture, Mario’s “Tanooki suit” has drawn the ire of PETA for promoting the wearing of fur.

PETA’s press release claims that even though Mario may not have skinned an animal alive the way that the actual “tanuki” or Japanese raccoon dogs are for their fur, “by wearing the skin of an animal, Mario is sending the message that it’s OK to wear fur.”

The group also created their own ‘Super Mario’ game called “Mario Kills Tanooki‘ that pulls a ‘Donkey Kong Jr.’ and turns Mario into the big boss. The grisly, NSFW game is a cross between ‘Saw’ and the Mushroom Kingdom.

PETA

The game also involves collecting coins, because it wouldn’t be a Mario game without a few power-ups and coins.

Besides the fact that PETA is addressing their criticism against a fictional video game character, it’s also interesting that they’ve waited this long to douse red paint on Mario’s Tanooki suit. Mario first wore the power-up in the classic ‘Super Mario Bros. 3,’ released in 1988 for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Clearly the PETA folks didn’t have a NES when they were kids.

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